When the Sky Smiles
by BigHair
Summary: REVISED & EDITED VERSION OF "FERVANT" same plot with an exception of minor changes including the title. waaayy better than the first version :  plz read and review!


Hiya everyone :D let me begin first by letting y'all know how sorry I am for stopping the story so randomly. plz forgive! I believe I stopped writing around when I started my sophomore year…yep. That's when I started getting involved in a bunch of different projects. The most successful one being a novel that a friend and I are currently working on. So because of that and a duel credit English class, my writing skills have improved ten-fold! Wha-cha! Lol cough anyhoo, and I was also thinking about this story the other day and thought that it really wasn't fair of me to just quit cold turkey without at least telling y'all first. But then I thought since I didn't do that in the first place, y'all deserve better :) so I am now going to rewrite the new and improved "Fervent" now titled "When the Sky Smiles" for y'all! XD well enough of my rambling, enjoy the story! Improved and twice as lemony! ;D

… pff. *snicker* lemony… like lemony snicket. … ok seriously, who the crap names their kid lemony! That's blasphemy! XD (Zak pops out of nowhere) "But it's a blast for me!" (inside joke LMAO)

P.S. I also improved the story line since before I just kinda winged it lol

Disclaimer: as I have said countless times over the years, I do not own naruto. However, I do own the omega adorable Chihiro! X3

Chihiro: you callin me a ho?

Me: what? No! how do you even know what a ho is?

Sakura: BigHair, you sick monster! She's just a kid!

Me: you're both retarded! I didn't mean it like that!

Sakura: no excuses! DIEEEEE

Me: whyyyyy God!

**Chapter 1: Final**

On a glorious summer morning, the sun slowly rose over the horizon, gradually painting a golden light over the village of Konoha. After the sunlight drowned the village in its radiant color, it leaked in through a window of the Haruno household, illuminating a certain pink-haired girl's angelic face as she paced the living room impatiently.

"Chihiro," she called irritably. "C'mon! You're gonna be late."

"All right! All right," came a younger, more shrill voice from up the stairs. "I'm coming." A second later, a rather small girl around nine or ten years old came bounding down the stairs, clad in a denim skirt and a red spaghetti strap. Her honey-blonde hair was tied back in low, short pigtails. "Geez, Sakura, don't get your panties in a wad," she told her fifteen year old sister reluctantly.

Haruno Sakura, a full-fledged kunoichi in training, had the duty of dropping off her younger sister, Chihiro, at the Ninja Academy every morning before heading over to the Hokage for work-much to her chagrin. Unfortunately, the young girl had been delaying the process of doing so by unwisely using her time on her hair and clothes. Sakura looked closer and noticed her sister wearing a bit of blush and lip gloss. This thoroughly disappointed her; had she not taught her sister better? After all, she had gone through the same phase. In fact, she probably still would have carried on about her looks if not for the Sound ninja incident in the Forest of Death during the Chuunin exams. Though she hated to admit it, Kin's words had indeed taught Sakura that lesson.

"_If you'd stop shampooing and practiced your jutsu, you'd might be able to be of some use."_

Remembering that day, Sakura shook her head at her sister's foolishness, the same kind of foolishness that had reflected her own in the past. "You really need to stop fussing over your looks, Chihiro," she said firmly. "If you waste your time on things like that and not enough time on your jutsu, how are you ever gonna make it out there as a ninja?" Chihiro narrowed her emerald eyes.

"Come on, onee-chan," she whined. "How am I supposed to get Takuto's attention if I look like a dork? I mean, let's face it: I'm scrawny and small. The only thing big is my forehead. Oh, why did I have to be born looking like you?"

Sakura's temple began to pulse angrily hearing her sister's insult. The pink-haired beauty could hardly care less what anyone said about her (if they dared to, anyway) but as everyone knew, the only thing that made her blood boil was any comment, however minor, about her forehead. No matter who it was. And her sister was no exception.

Chihiro blinked and she found herself high above the ground with the front of her shirt tightly grasped by Sakura's hand. She looked frightfully into her older sister's furious, piercing jade eyes. "Listen up, half-pint," Sakura growled as she jerkily shook her sister. "First of all, if you ever wanna grow up to be as old as mom, then I suggest you shut up about my forehead! Second, it's stupid to waste all your time primping for some _boy _who doesn't even know you exist! If you don't start practicing and keep chasing around some jerk, then you are seriously gonna regret it! Because if by some miracle you manage to make genin, you won't last five minutes! _Got it?_

Chihiro nodded her head violently.

"Sakura," a sharp, angry voice echoed down the stairs. The sisters looked up to see a tall, brown-haired woman, no older than forty, glaring down at Sakura with burning green eyes. "What are you doing? Put her down," she demanded. "You need to stop fooling around and take her to school before she's late again! I've got a student coming in a few minutes and I don't need you two here quarreling!" The woman, their mother Miyuki, was a teacher for older medical ninja in training. She was a kind of tutor and somewhat of an assistant for Lady Tsunade.

Responding to her mother's aggravation, Sakura did as she was told and loosened her grip on Chihiro's shirt, letting the young girl fall to the hardwood floor. Miyuki glared at her eldest daughter. "What? You never said I had to be gentle," Sakura smirked, acting innocent.

"Ow…" Chihiro grumbled as she caressed her sore rear. Miyuki's glare became more threatening.

"Sorry," Sakura mumbled as she grabbed Chihiro's arm and swiftly lifted her from the floor. She ruffled the little girl's hair and pushed her out the door. They were about to step off the porch when Miyuki stopped them.

"Be nice," she whispered to Sakura.

"Yeah, yeah."

"Love ya, mom," Chihiro said sweetly as she hugged Miyuki's waist. The doting mother smiled down at her youngest child as she patted her head.

"I love you, too," she replied gently.

When Miyuki loosened her grip, Chihiro skipped ahead down the street, only stopping to wait for Sakura. Before the pink haired ninja could go to her sister, she felt a comforting hand gingerly touch her tense shoulder. Once the slight connection was made, the stiffness in her shoulder melted and she turned to look at her mother. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

"Mom," Sakura said with concern lacing her tone. "What's wrong?"

"Well, nothing really. It's just that…" She hesitated.

"C'mon, Sakura-nee-chan," Chihiro yelled from a distance. "We haven't got all day!"

"Just hold on a second," Sakura yelled back before turning her attention once more to her mother. Though she said nothing, her eyes demanded answers. Miyuki could see that much.

"You're not still thinking of…that boy, are you?"

Sakura suddenly found the ground to be interesting-better than her mother's demanding gaze, anyway. She had hoped her mother would forget about him just as Sakura had tried to, but unfortunately, Miyuki's sudden question shattered all Sakura's hopes for that. She had tried to forget-she really did. But she'd have to be some sort of imbecile to erase that sort of memory. His onyx eyes, raven black hair and ice cold words were all too memorable for her, even if it had been three years since she'd last seen him. On that chilly, silent, heartbreaking night. She remembered how he sounded, what icy tone his voice carried and how it changed right before he knocked her out. It surprised her that the arrogant, angry boy suddenly sounded so grateful for her caring for him. And up until Naruto returned from hunting him down, she believed him. She believed that Sasuke was actually grateful for her. But when she saw Naruto lying in that hospital bed wrapped in bandages from head to toe and realizing that Sasuke did that to him, she concluded that he lied. He lied all along about everything. He left his friends and the people that cared for him without hesitation. Saying that he cared for Naruto and that he was his best friend and being able to hurt him like that anyway…after that, why should she believe that what he said about her was true? It was all a lie; he was a liar. No matter how hard she tried, she could never forget. And because of that, she could never let go of her anger. However, she did let go of the smile she once wore.

As she felt her mother's worried stare boring into the side of her face, Sakura caught herself glaring at the ground and immediately slapped on a blank expression. "No, I'm not," she said as she glanced at Miyuki once more. Miyuki sighed with relief.

"Oh…well, that's good," she said as she smiled sweetly at her eldest daughter-the same smile that Sakura had inherited from her before erasing it completely from her delicate features. But Miyuki was no fool; she knew that Sakura was all but not thinking of him. That would be the only reasonable explanation for her sudden change in personality. "Sakura, you-"

"_C'mon, _Sakura!" Said girl responded to her sister's call and swiftly turned away from her mother without looking at her.

"Sakura, wait," Miyuki demanded. "We need to talk."

Although Sakura was no fool, either. "There's nothing more to say about the situation," she answered icily.

"But honey-" Miyuki reached out to grab Sakura's shoulder, who sharply turned her head to give her mother a cold stare.

"I'd appreciate it if you did not bring him up again." Her chilling words sent goosebumps along Miyuki's arms and she unwillingly released her grip.

"Okay…" she whispered on the verge of tears.

"I'll see you tonight," Sakura said as she turned to walk away.

"I love you," her mother called. Sakura stopped for a moment to register her words, but with one final glance, she kept on walking.

XxXxXxXx

When the girls had reached the academy a few minutes later, Sakura grasped Chihiro's shoulder before she could walk through the doors. "What," she demanded.

"Now, listen," Sakura said sternly. "I want you to practice hard today; no flirting with boys, understand?" Chihiro let out a long, weary sigh.

"Nee-chan, do you hate me or something?"

Sakura let out her own irritable sigh. "No, Chihiro, I don't hate you, you're just…" She cursed at herself as she breathed these words. "Annoying." Chihiro did not pay any mind to her sister's comment. Instead she ignored her and went on her way to class.

Sakura stood there at the entrance for a while remembering her genin days. And dejectedly thinking how she sounded just like Sasuke.

XxXxXxXx

Later that day, when the red sun sank lower and lower into the ground, Sakura had finished working as an intern at the hospital and decided to see if Chihiro wanted to walk home with her. She made her way to the practice field at the academy where she knew she'd be and found her throwing shuriken at the trees. She missed greatly but did not let up. As Sakura walked towards her, she saw a boy around Chihiro's age approach her. She assumed it was Takuto.

"Yo, Chihiro-chan," he said coolly. "Why don't you ditch practice and come hang out with me?" Chihiro stiffened with shock hearing this coming from Takuto. She glanced at him with joy in her eyes for a bit but then quickly turned back to the trees and continued practicing. Takuto raised an eyebrow. "Hey, did you hear me," he asked.

"Yes, Takuto-kun, I heard you," she chided. "I'm afraid I'm gonna have to turn down your offer. But maybe some other time."

"Are you kidding me?" He was obviously getting angry. "You can practice anytime! What does it matter anyway? It's not that big a deal." At that point, Chihiro froze in place and sharply whipped her head in his direction, seething at him.

"As a matter of fact, Takuto-kun, it does matter!" Takuto staggered back in surprise. "And not only to me, but to my sister, too! I'm tired of her thinking I'm useless! I want her to be proud of me and I want to prove to her that I can be the best ninja I can be! But not just for her-mostly for me! Before I can prove that to her, I have to prove it to myself! And no one else's opinion matters-not even yours." Sakura's jade eyes widened hearing this sort of wisdom from her usually naïve sister. But Takuto was not as impressed.

"Whatever," he scowled. "Be a dork if you want. But I'm giving you a fair warning: this is a one time offer. I won't be asking you again."

"Well, that's a real shame for you since you care more than I do," Chihiro retorted with a smirk. "Now run along, boy. I've gotta practice." Takuto, in a flustered state, scoffed angrily before storming off, giving Sakura the chance to approach Chihiro. When she saw her older sister, she dropped her shuriken and stood straight before her. "O-onee-chan," she stammered as she gave her a respective little bow. "What are you doing here?"

"You should never drop your weapons willingly when approached by an enemy ninja," Sakura said. "Especially one with greater skill as you."

"But you're not the enemy; you're my sister."

"Well, nowadays, siblings have tendencies to turn on each other…" After a short moment of complete silence, Sakura snapped out of her thoughts. "I saw what you did." Chihiro looked up at her in surprise.

"You did?"

"Yeah." She moved beside her and ruffled her honey colored hair. "I'm proud of you, kid."

"R-really?" Chihiro's eyes widened.

"Well, yeah. I've always been proud of you, even if I didn't show it."

"Then why do you get so angry with me all the time?"

"Because I worry about you." Chihiro looked at Sakura quizzically. "You see, when I was around your age, I was in the same position as you. There was a boy in my class that I fell hard for and instead of practicing like I should've, I was constantly worrying about how I looked when I was around him. And as luck would have it, we ended up on the same team. I thought that it was fate that brought us together, but when he finally noticed me, he treated me like I was nothing. Like I was weak. Because the sad truth is that I was. And if it weren't for him or Naruto, I wouldn't be here right now giving you this lecture and hopefully sparing you my mistakes."

With that, Chihiro wrapped her arms around Sakura's waist and rested her head on her chest. "I'm sorry, Nee-chan," she murmured tearfully.

"You don't have to be," Sakura said. "You're just a kid, after all. Actually, I'm impressed you learned this lesson all by yourself. I didn't have anyone to teach me."

"Aww, Nee-chan," Chihiro mused. "You do love me."

"Yeah, yeah, don't push it." Chihiro laughed at her sister's sarcasm. "C'mon, I think you've practiced enough for one day," Sakura said as she lightly patted Chihiro's back. After Chihiro collected her shuriken, they left the field to go home.

"Hey, I bet Mom made dumplings," Sakura commented.

"Oh, that would be amazing," Chihiro cheered as they walked into the sunset, arms wrapped around each other.

XxXxXxXx

By the time they had reached their neighborhood, the sun had already gone down. The streets were usually filled with the songs of crickets and the street lamps' buzzing, but that night there were no sounds at all. Just the heavy hum of silence followed by their soft footsteps. It gave Sakura a bad feeling. Chihiro could sense Sakura's uneasiness and clung to her closely as they approached their house. No lights were on inside.

'_It's too early for Mom to be in bed,' _Sakura thought. _'Or anyone else, for that matter.'_

"Sakura," Chihiro whimpered. "I'm scared. Why is it so dark?"

"Don't be scared," Sakura said. "It's probably just a blackout-it happens all the time during summer. And Mom's probably inside just waiting for us to get home before supper gets too cold." As they stepped onto the porch, Sakura reached for her house key, but stopped when she noticed the front door slightly ajar. Hesitating, she opened it with caution as she entered with Chihiro on her heels. She called for their mother, only to be greeted with silence.

"Momma," Chihiro tried, only to receive the same result.

"She's probably upstairs," Sakura said as calmly as she could for Chihiro's sake. She started up the dark stairs, careful to watch where she walked as to not trip-which proved to be difficult with Chihiro following so closely she was stepping on her heels. When they reached the top of the stairs, they made their way down the hall toward their mother's bedroom. From a distance, Sakura could see that her mother's bedroom door was also slightly opened. Her heart began pounding in her chest knowing that her mother never leaves her door open for any reason. As she slowly approached it, her heart began pounding faster and faster with each tiny movement she made. She reached out and touched the door, slowly opened it a bit, peered inside….

And let out a piercing, bloodcurdling scream.

She quickly spun around and clamped her hands over Chihiro's eyes.

"No! Don't look!"

_**Final**__**: the last of something; to come to an end.**_

TBC…

Well, here's the first revised and edited chappie of what was once "Fervant!" so do u guys like? don't like? Love so much you want to bear its babies? Or hate so much you want it to die a horrible, slow, agonizing death? Please please tell meh what you think in yall's reviews! … I pray to God its not the latter. LOL XD again, sorry it took so long and hopefully it was worth the wait! =D

Chihiro: so…wait a minute. You mean to say that the reason why you suddenly disappeared off the face of the planet was because you were being lazy?

Me: yep. Pretty much. XD

Chihiro: *sniff* BigHair-chan! I was so worried! I thought you DIED!

Me: well, Chihiro-chan, I think you're being a little overdrama-

Sakura: WHO THE HELL MADE MY SISTER CRY

Me: oh dear God, noooooo!


End file.
